Jupiter Ascending: a holiday fic
by NivalVixen2
Summary: COMPLETE! Jupiter Ascending AU, with Layla as Jupiter Jones, Warren as Cain Wise, and the Strongholds as the Abraxas family.


For Kiran

Prompt: Warren/Layla - Jupiter Ascending AU

...

Layla was born a mere three weeks after her father had died trying to protect his beloved telescope from thieves intent on stealing everything of value from the young couple. Her mother didn't talk about her father much, but Layla knew that they had loved each other very much, and when he died, some part of her mother had as well. She was born an illegal immigrant, somewhere on the Atlantic as her mother and Aunt left Russia for the United States. According to Layla's Aunt, who fed on astrology like others did food, Layla was born in the House of Leo with Jupiter ascending, and that meant she was destined for great things, including finding her true love.

 _The only problem was that astrology was complete and utter bullshit_ , Layla thought, flushing the toilet she'd just finished cleaning.

Sighing to herself, she looked around the penthouse apartment's bathroom - it was bigger than the room she shared with her mother and Aunt - and Layla thought of the basin she still had to clean and the mirror she had to wipe down. The thought alone made her ache in a mix of anger, annoyance, and a sliver of resentment. There were times when Layla truly _hated_ her life. She would give anything for _any_ other existence than the one she was living.

Layla listened out for her relatives, but not hearing them, she ducked out of the bathroom to the mirror and dresser she'd spied earlier.

"Layla!" her mother called, making Layla wince and drop the earring she was admiring.

Layla ran back to the bathroom as fast as her feet could carry her. If she was caught and accused of stealing again, Layla knew that she would be fired. Inasmuch as she could be fired, considering her own family were the ones that technically 'hired' her in the first place. An illegal couldn't get legal work in the great United States of America, even if they'd spent their entire lives living in the country and had known nothing else.

"You finished the bathroom?" her mother asked, looking into the room.

"Not yet," Layla said.

"Hurry, we still have another three houses today," her mother said.

"Yes, mother," Layla said, picking up her bucket and brushes, trying not to feel too guilty at her mother's shrewd look of disappointment as she passed her.

The next three houses were much the same, with Layla wondering if anything truly great could ever happen to someone who cleaned toilets for a living. She wondered at the expensive clothes their clients had simply lying around without a care for the expense or even creases. She wondered if they even knew who cleaned their houses, or if they'd simply designated her entire family as 'the cleaners'.

"Layla! You finished the bathroom?" her mother asked.

"Not yet."

Another look of disappointment, this one not so easily avoided, and Layla tried to console herself with the thought that somewhere in the world, someone was having a worse day than she was.

...

 _A universe away..._

"Have you ever seen a harvest?" Steve asked Gwen as they walked along the blue sand, the city behind them eerily quiet.

In fact, now that the harvest was complete, their footfalls were the only sounds across the entire planet.

"No, of course not. I've heard that it's all quite humane though, no suffering. At least, that's what the administrators tell me," she replied with a brief smile.

Their brother, Will, appeared via hologram, shimmering into existence in a moment.

Steve greeted his brother warmly, and Gwen smiled at the wrinkles on Will's face that were a reflection of her own. His hair was even starting to grey at the temples, but Gwen wasn't quite so heartless to point them out. Steve, on the other hand, had hardly any tact whatsoever.

"Will, you're looking old. Perhaps success doesn't agree with you?" Steve suggested, smiling with perfect white teeth in a smooth, young face that had never once wrinkled.

"Steve, you're looking young. Spending your inheritance the way you are, you'll be broke by the end of the millennium; it's any wonder that the House of Stronghold survives with your squandering it away," Will replied, his eyes sharp.

"You've certainly got Mother's shrewd head for business," Steve snapped.

"Yes, and you obviously have her heart, Steve," Gwen said, trying to lighten the mood. "What does that leave me?"

"Her beauty," Steve replied smoothly, all expression of anger fading in an instant.

Gwen barely refrained from rolling her eyes, but smiled instead. They were all far too old for childish squabbles like this.

"I hope this isn't all you've called me here for, Steve?" Will asked pointedly.

"Oh, of course not, dear brother. I was looking over Mother's ledgers last week. She mentioned a place of rare beauty and fine resources; I believe it was in your inheritance after her ... death," Steve replied.

"Earth."

"Earth, yes, that's it. I wondered if you might like to trade it for a few of my planets? It sounds so beautiful, and I'd so love to visit the place that Mother spoke of so highly."

Beside Steve, Gwen laughed. "You couldn't have read the ledgers that thoroughly then, could you, Steve? Earth is worth more alone than _all_ of your planets combined!"

Steve's face fell. "Oh, I had no idea!"

Will didn't believe his brother for a second, eyes narrowed at Steve's perfectly smooth face. "Of course. If that is all, I have a business to run."

"Lovely to see you too, brother," Steve called, even as Will turned and stalked away, his hologram disappearing with a touch of the button behind his ear.

...

"Uncle Medulla? I was wondering if I could get an advance?" Layla asked at dinner, the whole family looking between her and Medulla at her request.

"You want _another_ advance? What for? To buy shoes?" he sneered.

"Does it matter? I'll work it off," Layla said.

"It matters because you should save your money. Not spend it all before you even get it! Buying shoes won't make you feel good about yourself for long," Medulla said.

"So, what, instead of buying something and feeling good about myself, I should save my money and be miserable instead?" Layla replied sharply.

"Yes! You're a smart girl, Layla, and that is why you're not married. Men don't like smart girls," Medulla said, shaking his head.

"Hey! Don't you talk about my daughter like that!"

An argument rose across the table, loud and dissolving into several different languages as Layla's mother threatened to shove her food down Medulla's throat.

"Mama, it's okay," Layla said, stilling her mother's expressive action of both her arm and her bread. "Medulla's right. I should save my money."

"So what was the money for, Layla?" Medulla asked.

"Nothing important," she replied listlessly.

...

Zach left the dinner table soon after Layla did, finding her in the basement. She was on the computer, looking at eBay's listing for a telescope, much like the one her father had owned.

"Hey, what was all that about? You're not backing out, are you, Lay?"

She sighed and looked at her cousin. "I'm not backing out. I just... I don't get why they have to use words like 'harvesting'," Layla said, feeling a little queasy as she looked at the pamphlet.

Zach grabbed the pamphlet and quickly threw it in the bin. "You shouldn't be looking at those things from doctors! Just trust me, okay? I've got big plans for this money. Things will change, they'll be better for all of us, you'll see. But I just need the money first, okay? You'll do this, won't you, Lay?"

She sighed, looking at Zach's wide eyes, so earnest and pleading. After a moment, Layla nodded. "I'll do it."

"Great, fantastic! You are the best cousin ever," he crowed, pulling her in for a hug.

Layla felt a little better at his obvious praise, but then pulled away and frowned up at Zach. "Hey, by the way, how come you get $10,000 and I only get $5,000? They're my eggs," she said pointedly.

"That's capitalism, baby. Shit rolls downhill."

Being compared to shit didn't make Layla feel that much better after all.

...

Warren knew that he was being followed, but for the moment, he didn't care. Whoever was following him didn't want him dead - yet - or they would've already tried. He had a job to do, and so long as they stayed out of his way, there wouldn't be any problems.

Stopping in front of the clinic, Warren set his gadget on the door, watching as it burrowed in and made a wide opening, large enough for him to step through. He left it open to make for an easier getaway, and headed to the clinic's records. Finding the file was easy work, and thanks to his Spliced DNA, he was able to scent the genes he'd need to locate the person he'd been hired to find. Warren looked down the page and saw the signature: Penny Malika.

Outside, Magenta stood on the rooftop, waiting for Ethan to see what she'd found. They watched the ex-Legionnaire open the clinic's door and head inside, and then Ethan swore softly.

"We can take him; he's just a Splice," their colleague scoffed, not looking impressed in the slightest.

"He's not just any Splice, haven't you heard the stories?" Ethan muttered at their colleague, guns powering up by his sides.

"He's ex-Legionnaire," Magenta added.

"How'd you know that?" their colleague asked.

"The boots," she replied, moving to her hover bike.

Magenta moved into the air, waiting a moment before turning both herself and the bike invisible, descending down into the alley to wait for the ex-Legionnaire to leave the clinic. With him messing up their orders and creating problems for them, there was no other choice but to kill him. Legionnaires - even ex ones - were surprisingly loyal, especially when they had a goal in mind; if whomever had hired the ex-Legionnaire had any sense, they would have offered him something he couldn't refuse. Magenta had no idea what it was, and didn't actually care - it could be a whole crate of ReCell for all that she knew - but she had her own goal in mind, and it certainly didn't involve being killed by an ex-Legionnaire.

Ethan and their colleague headed down into the alley as well, not able to turn themselves invisible, but confident nonetheless. If this ex-Legionnaire managed to pin either of them down, then Magenta would use the guns on her bike to mow him down. It was a simple plan that had worked on plenty of others before.

Inside the clinic, Warren heard movement outside, rustle of fabric as two people walked down into the alley. They weren't talking, so it obviously wasn't two Terrsies walking around - they had an unfailing habit of talking as loud as possible to announce themselves - and he could hear guns primed and ready. Past the noise of them walking and the distinctive buzz of their guns, Warren heard a noise similar to his gravity boots, but on a larger scale. So, there were three of them then.

He replaced the file and flicked his wrist, changing the settings for his shield to appear, and making his boots hover. Thankful for his Legionnaire training in different gravity fields, Warren skated for the door, his shield up to protect himself against the others' weapons.

...

"Layla! What should I wear?" Penny asked, holding up two black dresses for her to inspect.

Layla looked between the dresses, then at her friend with a frown. "Where are you going?"

"Dinner with Richard. I think he's going to ask me to marry him!"

Layla noted that her friend sounded rather nauseous instead of excited or happy. "And... do you want to marry him?" she asked hesitantly, knowing Penny's dramatic temperament far too well.

"He's the eighth most eligible bachelor under 30, richer than everyone we've ever met, and he won gold on the Olympic curling team."

"That's quite a resume."

"You bet it is. It's like a Cinderella fairy tale," Penny said, comparing the two dresses in the mirror. "So why do I feel like I'm going to puke?" she groaned, sitting next to Layla and trying to breathe.

"I don't remember Cinderella puking," Layla commented wryly, patting Penny's shoulder. "If he really loves you, he'll understand that it's a big decision, and something you need time to think about. You shouldn't just be put on the spot with something like this anyway. But in the meantime, to remind him what he's waiting for, you've got that red number," she said, getting up and heading to Penny's walk-in wardrobe that was larger than the room she shared with her aunt and mother.

"You sure it - " Penny cut off so suddenly that Layla looked out of the wardrobe cautiously.

She hadn't heard anyone enter the room, but when she looked over to the bed, Layla saw that Penny wasn't alone. Several thin, grey, large-eyed aliens surrounded her, blue lights on Penny's wrists making her float into the air. One of the aliens stabbed Penny with a device, muttering in something like disappointment when it lit up red. Her hands shaking, Layla lifted her phone to take a photo of the aliens; no one would believe her otherwise, and to be honest, she wasn't even sure if _she_ believed what she was seeing with her own two eyes right now.

Her phone started to ring loudly, and she ignored her mother's call, one of the aliens rushing towards her with a yell of anger. Layla screamed.

...

"Penny, everything all right up there?"

Penny sat up with a gasp, not sure how she'd ended up on the floor of all places. "Everything's fine, Richard; be right down!" she called.

Layla walked out of the wardrobe, still holding the red dress in one hand and her phone in the other. "You... you should definitely wear the red dress," she said, her voice hoarse as if she'd been yelling.

Penny nodded, standing and taking the offered dress. They were both quiet - a rarity, especially for Penny - but they both had an odd feeling, a sense of something wrong. Penny put it to nerves and with a kiss on Layla's cheek, said goodbye and headed downstairs to where Lash was waiting.

Layla went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face, then headed to the fertility clinic, her phone still in her hand.

...

The odd feeling didn't leave Layla, even when she'd arrived at the clinic and filled out several forms, agreeing to hormone replacement, accepting all of the risks and terms and liabilities, and signing every form with her friend's name. Though none of this would stand up in court if anything did go wrong, she felt slightly nauseous at the thought of signing her own name on those forms. Besides, plenty of women lied about their identities in places like these. Especially when $15,000 was on offer.

Realising that she was tapping her phone against her leg and probably irritating every other woman in the place, Layla stopped the noise. Deciding to distract herself by looking at her phone instead - maybe her mother had text her about another house to clean - Layla unlocked and opened her device. The camera was open, which was both odd and rare, since she had an old phone with a camera that was hardly worth the space. Clicking on the picture icon, Layla frowned and looked closer at the last photo she'd taken. Penny's body, floating in the air, with several ... _aliens_ around her.

 _Were those real? Had she attended a weird - and half-naked - magic show? Or some illusion show? And then completely forgot about it? Surely they couldn't be_ ** _real_** _aliens?_

"Ms. Malika?" the nurse called. "Hello? You are Ms. Penny Malika?" the nurse asked, finally getting Layla's attention.

"Oh. Yes, I am," she said, putting her phone away reluctantly and following after the nurse.

She changed into the clinic gown, looking at her phone one last time and trying to shake the odd feeling that still hadn't left her. Layla felt like something was going to go wrong; _or perhaps it already had, with that photo in her phone? Maybe she was dreaming all of this, and it was some weird, elaborate dream that was forewarning her against selling her eggs?_

"Ready, Ms. Malika? Just breathe," the nurse said, placing the mask over Layla's face.

Layla blinked, seeing the nurse with large black eyes; they definitely weren't a human's eyes: they belonged to aliens.

"Wait. No, no, let me out. Let me go, something's wrong. This... Please," she begged, even as the other nurses in attendance strapped her wrists and ankles.

They weren't strapping her into anything, but then she saw a blue glow, even as her vision became hazy and her body started to float into the air. _Just like Penny in the photo_ , she realised.

"Please, let me go. I... I haven't done anything. I want to go. Please!"

Layla's vision blurred and she had a vague notion of the door being broken in, of lights and lasers. She desperately tried to keep her eyes open but the gas was still being pumped into her body. Layla felt a hand against her face and jerked back, the mask removed from her mouth; she desperately breathed in fresh air, gulping it down.

"Layla Williams? You'll be safe with me," her rescuer promised, offering her his hand.

Layla looked up at him, blinking at the slightly non-human appearance of the otherwise human appearance. (She was still drugged up, she knew and accepted that reasoning.)

Considering he hadn't shot her, had got her out of the weird floating handcuff things, and didn't have large alien eyes, Layla figured he was probably right. She accepted his hand and stood up, infinitely glad that her feet were on the floor, and let him guide her out of the room and back to where her clothes waited.

Layla briefly wondered how Zach would take the news that _aliens_ had attacked the fertility clinic. _Maybe all of those crackpot theories about aliens impregnating women wasn't a crackpot theory after all?_

...

Layla was still a little fuzzy after the gas, but she was fairly sure her rescuer was stealing a car.

They were driving out of the city after that, and it was a good ten minutes before Layla could find her voice again.

"Who are you?" she asked, really wanting to ask _what_ are you, even though she was pretty sure the answer was: alien.

"Warren Peace. I was hired to take you to Steve Stronghold."

Layla scrunched her nose up. "Who's that?"

"One of the richest men in the universe. You... your kind are usually surprised to discover that there's more than just your planet that holds life; there are thousands upon thousands of planets out there that are inhabited by people and creatures that are far more advanced than your race."

"Okay. Sounds kind of insulting, but I suppose it makes sense," Layla muttered.

She finally looked at Warren properly, the point-tipped ears, scars along his arms, and the bloody and gaping hole in his side.

"You're bleeding!"

"It'll heal," Warren said.

"Blood loss isn't a thing with your race?" Layla asked pointedly as the car swerved dangerously, Warren losing control for a moment.

Warren grit his teeth and didn't answer.

Layla rolled her eyes and started searching the car's glove compartment. "Lucky for you, a woman owned this car," she said, grinning when she found a menstrual pad.

Ripping the packet open, Layla pressed the padded part to the wound, leaving the sticky part facing outwards. It would be ridiculously painful if she stuck the wrong side to the actual bleeding wound, not to mention somewhat useless. Grabbling about in the back seat, Layla found a hoodie lying on the floor. She shook it off and motioned for Warren to sit forward. Wrapping the hoodie around his torso the best she could, she tied it off, keeping the pad firm against his wound.

"There you go; not too bad, huh?"

Warren looked down at the bright pink hoodie around his torso, then looked back up at the road without a response.

...

Boomer's bee farm was an experience, right up until the walls started getting torn apart with bullets. Before that there were bees recognising Layla as a Queen, telling Zach that she hadn't had her eggs removed (she could hear a TV in the background, far louder than anything they owned, and had to hang up on her cousin as he was swearing and cursing repeatedly instead of actually saying anything useful), and finding out that Warren had been in Boomer's old squad as a Lycantant before being dishonourably discharged for ripping out an Entitled's throat with his teeth.

Even hearing that, and realising that _she_ was meant to be an Entitled now, Layla still couldn't bring herself to fear Warren. He was part-dog, part something else, and part-human too. Although, according to Boomer's impromptu history lesson, the human race took after other creatures and people and aliens, rather than the popular theory of humans colonising other planets. Boomer's daughter Wendy had left for the shops soon after they arrived, coughing on her way out. Layla had registered the worry on Boomer's face, but had no chance of asking what was actually wrong without sounding completely rude and disrespectful.

Then, the walls were torn apart by aforementioned bullets. Warren and Boomer had both protected her and, as Layla ran outside, so had the bees. Hundreds of tiny innocent lives were sacrificed for her, all because the bees mistakenly recognised her as a Queen when she was anything _but_ a Queen - _you wouldn't believe what I do for a living_ , she told Boomer with a humourless laugh; _it isn't what you_ ** _do_** _, it's what you_ ** _are_** , he replied, as certain and sure as she'd never been.

Layla practically dove into the cornfield surrounding the bee farm, trying to get as far away as possible without rustling the corn stalks and giving away her position so easily. It didn't matter in the end because just when she thought she was going to be taken away by aliens, bounty hunters descended, knocked her out, and put her in their ship.

Magenta grinned over at Ethan. "I trust you."

He nodded and killed their colleague; the Keepers were already dead, unconscious, or somewhere in between on the floor below them. Ethan closed the ship's door and accelerated into the atmosphere, unaware that they'd taken on another passenger on the outside of the ship.

Warren took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and hoped like hell that the bounty hunters would use a wormhole to reach whichever planet they were headed for; if they didn't, he would be useless to Layla, since he'd be dead from a lack of oxygen.

...

Gwen Stronghold smiled at Layla, guiding her down the hallways to her Mother's shrine. She stepped away from Layla to light a candle, all of the other candles lighting up around them. In the middle of the room stood a statue, the features almost a perfect copy of Layla's own face.

"Mother and I didn't always get along, but she taught me a very valuable lesson, Layla," Gwen said, holding out a hand for Layla to come closer.

Layla stepped closer, still a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last 24 hours, and a little concerned about the fact this statue _kind of, sort of, almost_ looked like her if she wore ceremonial robes which somehow made these people - _aliens!_ \- think that she was a reincarnation of their mother. Layla was _no one's_ damn mother.

"Mother taught me that time is the single most precious commodity in the universe," Gwen stated, leading her through the shrine to a waiting pool with some sort of technology and several attendants waiting. "Even with the ability to live forever, we still don't have enough time together. I'm hoping to rectify that with you."

Gwen smiled at Layla again, that disconcerting smile that made Layla want to run away. If she knew how to get off the planet, she would in a heartbeat.

"We never get sick, we only age when we want to, and we can live forever," Gwen said, removing her robe and stepping down into the pool.

Layla averted her eyes, wondering just what sort of weird relationship Gwen had had with her mother before her death. ( _Josie's murder_ , Gwen had said emphatically, as if that would mean something to Layla and stir some sort of latent motherly feeling towards her. It honestly hadn't, and since Layla had no idea who Josie's murderer was, she didn't particularly want to stay with someone who already thought kidnapping was okay.)

When Gwen came back up out of the pool, Layla couldn't help but stare at her. Sure, Gwen had said they could live forever, but going into a bath of blue goo and coming out looking like a firm and supple twenty-year-old wasn't quite what Layla had expected.

"What is it?"

"It has many names and is one of the most sought-after products in the universe. Money is worthless to us, but ReCell - and therefore, time - is everything. ReCell allows our biological strands to be returned to their prime condition. As you can see," Gwen said, indicating towards her body with a self-satisfied grin.

"Ex-excuse me," one of the attendants murmured, stammering as he - _or was it an_ _it?_ \- passed Gwen another sheer robe.

A brief flash of annoyance passed on Gwen's face, but she smiled and turned to the attendant. "What is it, Stitches?"

Stitches swallowed visibly. "We... We found _that_ in the gardens. It followed Layla here," Stitches added, nodding over to where Warren was being held down by the guards.

Gwen's lips thinned briefly; if it really had followed Layla here, then it would know of her bribing the bounty hunters with a case of ReCell in exchange for Layla.

"She's Entitled; Boomer has already contacted the Aegis," Warren called out.

"Why, of course. I'm glad they're here. The sooner you get your Title, the sooner you can come back and visit," Gwen said, smiling at Layla. "You are always welcome here, Layla."

"Thank you. Who are the Aegis?"

...

"Captain Powers, at your service, Your Majesty."

 _Don't stare at the elephant pilot, don't stare at the elephant pilot, don't stare at the elephant pilot_ , Layla repeated to herself.

"Layla. Please, just call me Layla."

"Of course, Layla. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Looking down at the elaborate dress Gwen had put her in, Layla looked back up. "Do you have something I can change into? I feel a little overdressed."

Captain Powers gave something close to a smile and nodded. "Mr. Lash will show you the way," she said.

A robot with a face but no actual head immediately stepped forward. Mr. Lash long arms and a long swathe of brown hair across his forehead. "This way, Your Majesty Layla."

...

The clothes were more skin-tight than Layla was used to, but she definitely preferred them to the dress.

There was a knock on her door soon after she pulled her boots on - not flying ones like Warren's, unfortunately - and Layla looked at the door with no handle or access panel or _something_ to let her out.

"Uh, come in!" she called, hoping they'd hear her.

 _God, what if she was stuck in here forever? She had to be at work in the morning._

Warren opened the door, closing it with the panel on the side that Layla had completely missed. "Your Majesty. I brought you your files. The rules and laws for upholding intergalactic peace," Warren added, handing two devices to her.

Layla set them aside and looked up at Warren. "You called me Your Majesty."

"Yes, I did, Your Majesty."

"I... It doesn't sound so bad when you say it," she admitted with a brief smile. Layla watched, approaching Warren cautiously, and moved directly into his space. "I think I have a broken compass, when it comes to men," Layla said, trying to voice her thoughts without sounding utterly insane. "They either hate me or are married, or are just complete jerks, y'know? But..." _God, she could hear her heart hammering in her chest_. "But with you, I feel like it's finally pointing the right way."

Warren seemed to look right into her very soul in that moment, his eyes focused on her, his hands hovering by her hips, his mouth a mere brush away from her skin, his nose filled with her scent. Layla was almost positive that he felt the same way and she leaned in closer. Warren stepped back abruptly, Layla almost falling forward before catching herself.

 _Well, that was obviously a no_.

"You don't understand, Your Majesty. I'm a Splice, genetically-altered human being. Not even a human being, really. I have more in common with a dog than I do you," Warren admitted.

"I love dogs. I've always loved dogs."

 _Oh, good God, did she really just say that?!_

Warren didn't seem repulsed at least, more amused than anything else, but he inclined his head and left her room once more.

"Always loved dogs?!" she muttered to herself, putting a hand over her face.

Since there was no coming back from _that_ , Layla decided to start reading the files to preoccupy herself. Captain Powers had promised they'd arrive at the Commonwealth Ministry within a few hours. _Well, it was time to test just how good her speed-reading really was_.

...

"I've been on the front line of two major wars, and I'd rather be back there than face this bureaucratic lot," Captain Powers admitted to Layla when they finally reached the Commonwealth Ministry.

A robot similar to Mr. Lash stepped forward. This one was a slightly larger build, had brown eyes, short hair, and wore a baseball cap backwards. It seemed very proud of the hat.

"Good evening, Your Majesty. My name is SPD. It would be my pleasure to accompany you through the Commonwealth Ministry to authenticate your application," SPD announced, bowing and yet, somehow, SPD's eyes never left hers.

Layla turned to look at Warren, who gave a slight nod.

"Thank you."

"Good evening, we are here to authenticate Layla Williams' application for the Title to Earth," SPD said pleasantly.

"This is Revenue Request, you want Revenue Revue."

"Good evening, we are here to authenticate Layla Williams' application for the Title to Earth," SPD said, still pleasant despite the hour wait.

"You need a form from Sub-33."

"Good evening, we are here to authenticate Layla Williams' application for the Title to Earth," SPD stated, smile no longer in place after the last two and a half hours.

"Quit Claims required first."

"Good evening, we are here to authenticate Layla Williams' application for the Title to Earth," SPD said, eye twitching.

"Title Transfer," the shiny silver robot replied, looking SPD up and down, immediately judging the other robot.

SPD's mouth dropped and SPD glared at the other robot's insinuation.

Wills and Trust, Hall of Titles, one sparking wire, and an extremely unsubtle bribe later, Layla was in the Seals and Signets getting her entitlement tattoo from the Seals and Signets Minister.

"Congratulations on your Entitlement. And good luck!" the Minister added with a half-mad cackle.

Layla blinked. "Thank you?"

The elevator was slow, though the music seemed to calm SPD down.

"So now that I own the Earth, do I - " Layla started to ask, the elevator doors opening.

Before she could finish her sentence, they were attacked, and she was kidnapped again. At least this time, Warren was kidnapped alongside her.

...

"My mother and I had a wonderful relationship," Steve said, smiling at her. "I could tell how she was feeling just from the way she raised her eyebrow."

Layla lowered her eyebrow. "Where is Warren?"

"He didn't tell you that I was the one who hired him to get you? He's done his job, I've paid him, and he's already gone on his way," Steve said. "I could ask Mr. Boy to send for him?"

"No. I... It's all right."

Steve wiped his mouth and stood, offering a hand to her. "I have something I'd like to show you."

Finding out that ReCell was made from _people_ , life, energy made Layla feel sick to her stomach and she dropped the cylinder with a gasp of horror.

 _How many people had died for this? How many people had she just killed all over again by dropping the ReCell? How many people had died to keep these people young for centuries? She had seen from Gwen that they could age, with wrinkles and grey hair, and yet Steve was as smooth as a baby's butt._ Layla sincerely doubted he was as disgusted by the ReCell process as he stated.

"Layla, my mother was murdered for her opposition of ReCell, and I fear I may be next. I have a responsibility to the people of my planets, and I must keep them safe, even after my death. If we were to marry, then on the event of my death, all of my holdings would transfer to you. Consider it a business agreement," he added with a smile when he saw Layla's expression. "You are the only I would trust to keep my people safe," Steve said, eyes wide and earnest.

Layla couldn't say anything, still too shocked to answer such a loaded question.

"I will, of course, issue full Military pardons to both Mr. Peace and Mr. Boomer. I've already had them done up in anticipation," Steve added, clicking for Mr. Boy to hand the pardons over to Layla.

She looked at the pardons, surprised that he'd hand over a bargaining chip so easily. _Thinking of marriage as a bargaining chip settled uneasily in her stomach._

"Layla, will you marry me?" Steve asked, his hand covering hers.

...

Warren grabbed onto the cell bars, lifted his feet, and turned his grav-boots on. A blast of heat and power hit the bars, and he was thrown back to the floor a moment later.

"The bars are resistant to flame. Boomer was very forthcoming about that information," Mr. Boy informed Warren with a smile.

Steve joined them a moment later. "Throw him out of the airlock. Hurry up with it, Mr. Boy; I've got a wedding to plan," he added, smirking when he saw Warren's crestfallen expression.

Mr. Boy pressed a button to activate the anti-gravity sensor, blue lights floating around Warren as he was guided out of the cell when the bars retracted a moment later. He pushed Warren into the airlock and closed the doors. The blue light around him disappeared and Warren banged on the door futilely.

Steve smiled, wide and bright and charming. "Don't worry about Layla, Mr. Peace. I'll ensure that her death is quick and painless, and when she's gone, then _I'll_ inherit the Earth. Those people will be dead before Layla's even put in a casket."

"So you're just lying to her? How do you sleep at night?!" Warren snapped.

"Lies are a necessity, Mr. Peace. They are the source of meaning, belief, and hope. Honestly, lies are sometimes the only reason I get out of bed in the morning," Steve said, expression fading from charming to cold in an instant and he stepped back. "Anytime now, Mr. Boy."

Warren had little to no time to think or plan, so he just acted. The airlock was equipped with an emergency suit that wouldn't keep him alive for long, but the beacon he'd activated in his boot should hopefully call on someone nearby. He just had to survive until help arrived.

Warren repeated this to himself even as he ran forward to grab the suit, just as Mr. Boy pressed the airlock button.

...

Layla couldn't believe she was getting married. She was getting married to an alien. She was getting married to an alien and her mother wasn't even there. Oh god, when her mother found out, she'd be devastated.

"Oh, don't worry mother, it was a business transaction, that's all. It was to save the lives of several million people on planets we don't even know about. It's not like it was a real marriage, honestly," Layla muttered to herself.

She hated the dress she was wearing. Several robots had arrived in the morning, covering her with fabric and makeup and roses and doing something so odd to her hair that she didn't even think it was actually her hair anymore.

"Okay, deep breath, Layla. It's just business."

 _Yeah fucking right_.

She almost wished Warren had stayed, just for another two days. It would have been nice to see a familiar face at her wedding, especially considering her husband wasn't even one of those faces.

The doors opened before her and Layla felt goosebumps break out over her skin. _Hundreds_ of robots were in a huge auditorium, intently watching the door. She vaguely remembered them being called SIMs by Steve, but that somehow sounded worse than robots to Layla's mind. There were four humans in the room and she was one of them. Steve, Mr. Boy, and the priest were the other three. She wondered where someone had to study to become a space priest, or was it a priest in space - _was there an actual difference? Did they have gods? Did they have churches and pray, or was it just a god they cursed when things went wrong and a church they only deigned to visit on holidays, like her uncle did?_

The platform beneath her started to move and Layla forced herself to concentrate. She was pretty sure she'd die if she fell from this height, which wasn't terrifying at all.

...

"Not that I'm not grateful you found me, but how did you find me?" Warren asked, the suit collapsing in the oxygenated cabin and dissolving around him.

Captain Powers raised an eyebrow and looked from him to the holding cell where Boomer was sitting.

Wendy was sick with the Bug, the ReCell would cure her when nothing else in the universe would, and Boomer promised he had no other health problems, family members, or debts to be paid off by betraying others.

While Captain Powers was readying her crew to fight the battle SIMs that Steve would be sending, Boomer pulled Warren aside. "Why are you doing this, Warren? You've done your job, what if she's marrying him because she wants to?"

Warren looked up from preparing his weapon and scowled at Boomer. "No one marries someone willingly if they know they're going to die, Boomer."

"Look, you and I both know you've got the girl's scent. You weren't like the other Legionnaires, Warren, and - hey! I'm not saying it's a bad thing. The others were all wings and hive, but you were Spliced from a different group than the others. It was good, you kept us alive when we might've blindly followed orders instead," Boomer added, hand firm on Warren's shoulder to ensure he was still listening.

Warren continued to check his gun, but Boomer could tell from the tick in his ear that he was still listening.

"You're a Lycantant, Warren, and that means you need a pack, you need something to keep you grounded and human, for all that you're a Splice. Whether or not you admit it to yourself is another matter, but you _need_ Layla."

Warren grit his teeth and didn't reply. He could still smell her scent, as clear as if she was standing beside him instead of Boomer. He knew that he would be able to follow her scent across the galaxy.

"Now, are you going to sit here and do nothing, or are you going to go out there and get her?"

...

"Repeat after me: I, Steve Titus Stronghold, being of sound mind and body, take thee, Layla Williams..."

 _"Come on, Boomer, keep on my tail!"_

"I, Steve Titus Stronghold, being of sound mind and body, take thee, Layla Williams..."

 _"I see you, Peace! Break through! There's a gap on my six!"_

"Now you, Layla, repeat after me: I, Layla Williams, being of sound mind and body, take thee, Steve Titus Stronghold..."

 _"Come on, you sonofabitch! Ha! Did you see that, Boomer?!"_

"I, Layla Williams, being of sound mind and body, take thee, Steve Titus Strongho-"

 ** _CRASH_**.

The emergency gravitational field started the moment the small craft crashed into the cathedral and smashed glass down onto the SIMs. Steve grabbed Layla's hand and stuck it under the ring device. Layla cried out as it started to etch the ring onto her finger with intense heat.

Warren leapt and ripped Steve away from her. "Did it take?"

"What?"

"Priest, did the band take?" Warren snarled.

The priest trembled as he took Layla's hand to inspect it. "No, it didn't take."

"The words were spoken; the ring is symbolic anyway. I can still kill you and take Earth for myself!"

"Can I kill him?" Warren asked, breathing heavily and holding Steve as far away from Layla as possible.

Layla looked between Warren and Steve. "I just want to go home."

...

"Layla was meant to go to the clinic and get money for her eggs, that's all I know! Then she's calling me saying there was some sort of accident, and I haven't heard from her since!"

"You tried to get Layla to sell her eggs?" her mother asked, eyes wide.

At least four family members started to argue and yell at Zach. It all cumulated with Medulla hitting his son repeatedly with a rolled up newspaper. "You don't treat your cousin like chicken!"

There was a bright flash of light outside the house but they didn't take any notice until the house wall started to deteriorate. Larry and Ron Wilson walked through the corroding wall, both larger than life and seemingly invincible. The family all stopped and turned, shocked into silence. Zach whimpered on the chair, eyes round.

"Don't hurt them," Larry instructed, his voice like stones falling.

Ron Wilson nodded and attached blue lights to make them hover. Making them fall asleep was a harder task to accomplish once they all got past their initial shock, fighting the serum that was injected into them. Layla's mother was the last to succumb, glaring at them all like they weren't giant aliens who had control over them at that moment.

 _Humans were weird_ , Ron Wilson decided, shaking his head.

...

"Mr. Wilson? See that Layla is brought to me _willingly_ by the end of the day."

Ron Wilson bowed and left. Will Stronghold sat at his mother's desk and looked out over Stronghold Industries main plant. Held in the depths of Jupiter itself, the storms and gaseous planet made any attempts to scan the planet useless, and Stronghold Industries - _his company_ \- was safe. He had inherited it after Josie's death, despite Gwen's attempt at taking over by befriending Layla, and Steve's pitiful idea of marriage that had backfired spectacularly and destroyed more than half of his SIM collection as well.

Will wouldn't make the same mistakes his siblings had. His mother had taught him better. Fear worked best as an instigator, especially if those people were loved ones. Josie had taught him that best of all.

 _Every human society is a pyramid, and some lives will always matter more than others_ , Josie had said, explaining their continued existence and the necessity for ReCell, for millions of people to die so they could live. They were at the top of society's pyramid, and as long as they had ReCell, they always would be.

...

Layla is so relieved to make it back home that she immediately wants nothing more than to hug each and every person in her family - even Uncle Medulla - and then sleep for a whole week. Only when she returns home, her family are gone, and waiting for her is a large man who doesn't look like a man after all.

"Mr. Stronghold requests your presence."

"Which Mr. Stronghold? It feels like there's a whole universe of Strongholds' I've yet to have met," Layla snapped.

"Mr. Will Stronghold. The heir to your recurrence - "

"Josie Stronghold. Yeah, I get that a lot. Where's Will Stronghold then?" Layla asked, so sick of all of this and really wishing she was sleeping instead.

"Jupiter's ReCell refinery, where else?"

"Of course."

...

Captain Powers protests her going alone, but Layla is determined. The Aegis can follow after her with Warren and Boomer on board. She trusts those on the Aegis, but not Will, or anyone in his employment.

The protective storm clouds closed in too fast for the Aegis to get through. Warren growled, a low noise that filtered from between his teeth. Boomer barely had to look at him before Warren left the bridge to go to a shuttle, heading straight for the storm clouds that surrounded Jupiter.

"Some lives will always matter more than others, Layla. Now hand over your rights to Earth! It is mine! It is my inheritance!" Will snapped. His face smoothed almost instantly when Layla recoiled. "Your family will be safe. Neither you nor they will never see a reaping in your lifetime, I promise."

Layla looked from Will down to her feet where her family slept under the glass floor. "No. I don't trust a single thing you say; the minute I hand over the rights to you, Earth will be wiped clean. I won't let you do it!"

Will yelled at her, pure frustration and anger in his voice, and darted forward to wrap his hands around her neck. "You die, then the inheritance automatically moves to me. Again. It kills me to do this to you again, mother, but I know you'd understand," he whispers.

Layla honestly did not think that her death would involve being choked to death, with her eyes watering and her face turning an ugly shade of red. She gathered all of her strength and lifted her knee, slamming it into Will's groin. He let out a groan of pain and stumbled back.

Outside the refinery, a shuttle slammed into the protective shields, the clouds already starting to break down. The shuttle continued until it pierced the refinery itself, just as Layla kneed Will in the groin.

Using the chance as a diversion, Layla left the top level of the refinery and went downstairs to where her family were still suspended. The lights gave them an eerie glow, but they were much easier and calmer to transport while under the lights' sedation.

Warren fought off Larry and Ron Wilson, Larry falling to the second level where Layla was trying to protect her family. She was unarmed and he could see Will creeping up behind her.

"Layla!" Warren called out, throwing his gun towards her.

The refinery had started to collapse, so his throw fell short, but Layla was within reach and managed to get the gun before Will could move for it.

"You won't shoot me, Mother," Will said, eyes wide. "You don't have the capacity to hurt me."

Layla glared, aimed, and shot Will in the leg. "You've got no idea what I'm capable of."

Warren came crashing in behind her, roaring at Will. The refinery continued to collapse, jolting the three of them apart abruptly. Warren slid down to where Layla's family were, while Layla and Will were moved to the balcony area. Seeing that Layla was safe and Will was injured, Warren used the opportunity to move Layla's family out of the refinery and over to the beam of light that the Aegis was shining down for them.

The balcony didn't last as long as Layla would have hoped, and she jumped from the railing to the pipe on the side of the building, trying to get higher up. She could see the beam of light from the Aegis; if someone saw her, they might be able to move it closer or something.

Behind her, Will watched as she moved between the various levels of the refinery, eyes bright as he tracked her movements to the point where she'd eventually end up.

Layla continued along the best she could considering there were harsh flames and smoke pouring from several rooms and windows. She didn't even see the metal pipe until it was knocked across her chest, throwing her back across the room. Will glared at her, reached down and grabbed Layla by the hair, dragging her out onto another balcony.

"Do you remember it?" Will asked, eyes wide and bright. "Do you remember dying, Mother? Do you remember your life flashing before your eyes?"

Layla grit her teeth, reached up, and dug her thumb into the wound on Will's leg. He let go of her hair, and she rolled away, snatching up a metal pipe. Will reached out for her, hands curled just like they'd been curled around her throat, in her hair, and she smacked him back down with the pipe. Will tried to stand again, and again, Layla hit him with the pipe. She hit him until he stayed down.

"Do you remember me asking you to kill you? You said you _hated_ your life. You begged me! You begged me to do it!" Will screamed.

Layla knew that she could kill Will here. He was at her mercy, she was the one with the metal pole this time, thank you very much, and to be honest, the universe would probably thank her for it. But she wasn't a killer - she didn't want to be a Stronghold, especially if that was the price of the name - and Layla threw down the pipe.

"I'm not your damn mother."

The balcony collapsed and Layla scrambled to grab onto a pipe, even as Will struggled to find purchase on something, falling down to his death.

"Layla!" Warren called out, stopping in front of her abruptly with his gravitational boots.

"Know where I can get a pair of those?" she asked, the joke weak, but Warren smiled, broad and wide.

Warren grabbed her and started to skate up to where the Aegis was waiting amidst the planet's collapsing refinery. He reached out towards the Aegis just as Captain Powers gave the command to return to Earth; Warren's five minutes were up.

"Captain Powers? I'm getting a signal," Mr. Lash said.

"Mind if we come in?" Warren asked over the speaker, he and Layla both in emergency spacesuits.

Captain Powers couldn't help but laugh and she waved at Mr. Lash. "Let them in, for the gods' sakes!"

...

"Now, Layla, Zach told us why you wanted to sell your eggs," Medulla said.

Layla's eyes widened and she glared at her cousin. Zach just shrugged, still smarting over being hit with a newspaper.

"So we all chipped in and bought it for you," her mother said, nodding over to her Aunt where she was revealing the telescope Layla had so desperately wanted five days ago.

"Can we take it up to the roof?" her youngest cousin piped, the others all agreeing in excitement.

Layla blushed. "I'd love to, but I can't. I have a date."

"What's his star sign?"

"What's his job?"

"How good is he with a brush?"

"How big's his TV?" Zach asked, grinning.

Layla laughed at all of their sudden and intense questions. "I don't know!"

...

Warren looked at Layla as she slipped on her boots. "Are you going to tell them?"

"What, that I own Earth? I think I'd prefer to spend the rest of my life _outside_ of a mental institution, thanks," Layla said with a laugh.

"I'd get you out," Warren promised.

Layla stood up, wobbly in her new grav boots. "I'll get myself out. Race you!" she called, stepping off the top of the building and skating across the sky.

Warren grinned and let his eagle wings unfurl before stepping off the roof and swooping down after Layla, her laughter leaving more of a trail than her grav boots ever would.

...

The end.


End file.
